Feng shui and fortune: Robertson home soars to $2.51 million at auction

It had ’70s carpet, peeling wallpaper, a kitchen in dire need of an upgrade and a wonky block.

But that didn’t stop five families duking it out at a fierce auction in one of Brisbane’s most tightly held pockets, driving the price to a jaw-dropping $2.51 million.

The four-bedroom house, at 23 Janda Street, Robertson, sits on an 817 square metre block and has remained in the same hands since it was built 47 years ago. But despite its need of a renovation, the home soared $100,000 past its reserve and hundreds of thousands beyond the vendor’s expectations.

Selling agent Alex Fan, of LJ Hooker Property Partners, said while even run-down homes in Robertson were sitting on a pot of gold, the result was a jaw-dropper.

“We weren’t expecting to get $2.51 million … in fact the owner was expecting a few hundred grand lower,” Fan said.

“This house is at an intersection so it’s not even a rectangle, and it needs a full renovation … it’s basically a block of land. But it’s because there’s a shortage of supply and this is a well-known street.”

The seller of 23 Janda Street, Robertson, had help from her son to prepare the property for sale, including peeling off old wallpaper and replacing an oven.Credit: LJ Hooker

The campaign included just four open homes – one of which was marred by ex-cyclone Alfred – but Fan said buyer interest was strong, particularly from locals familiar with the suburb’s reputation for good feng shui.

“People are willing to invest into Robertson … they see the value here and they really believe in the feng shui of the area and that it will bring good fortune,” he said.

Five registered bidders fronted up to the auction, with the eventual buyer throwing down a knockout punch opening bid of $2.1 million. But the contest stalled at $2.3 million before two determined buyers took it all the way to $2.51 million. The reserve was set at $2.4 million.

Fan said the owner was moving into a retirement home and had help from her Mackay-based son to prepare the property for sale, including peeling off old wallpaper and replacing a broken oven.

“People are willing to invest into Robertson … they really believe in the feng shui of the area and that it will bring good fortune,” the property agent said.Credit: LJ Hooker

“Almost everything in the kitchen didn’t work so we replaced the oven and the rangehood and then staged it. The home looked old so we wanted to distract from it with the furniture,” he said.

“And then on the day of the auction a new person who hadn’t seen the home before popped up and got it.”

Over the past five years Robertson has emerged as one of Brisbane’s best-performing suburbs, with Domain data showing house medians soared a colossal 108.6 per cent in five years to reach a median of $2 million at the end of last year.

The home was one of 172 auctions scheduled in Brisbane over the past week. By Saturday evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary auction clearance rate of 37 per cent from 87 reported results, while 18 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance.

Over at Woolloongabba, a four-bedroom Queenslander at 22 Merton Road fetched $2.08 million in a slow-paced auction that saw just three bids thrown down in an hour.

The home, on a 582-square-metre block and last sold for $1.281 million in 2015, features an updated kitchen, dual entry and a sprawling patio.

Bidding opened at $1.9 million, with just two parties nudging it along until the hammer fell close to the undisclosed reserve – with a returning overseas expat nabbing the keys.

Selling agent Solomon Michael, of Coronis, said homes like this were rare.

“The owners had been there for just short of 10 years they just generally maintained it and put a coat of paint on and updated the air-conditioning … but this is a tightly held suburb.

“And the buyer had just missed out on one around the corner where they were the underbidder and they needed to secure something sooner rather than later.”

Meanwhile in Wilston, 10 registered bidders, of which five were active, battled for a three-bedroom 1930s cottage on a 610 square metre block.

A young, local professional couple outmuscled a Sydney buyer, paying $1.53 million for 1 Murray Street.

Selling agent Andy Flanagan, of Ray White, said the home had been renovated immaculately, with about 50 groups inspecting it during the campaign.

“Wilston has become incredibly popular in recent times, it’s affordable compared to those [nearby] brand-name suburbs like Ascot,” he said.

Bidding for the home started at $1.1 million and rose in largely $100,000 increments before slowing at $1.5 million. Bids then fired back and forth between the buyer and the interstate hopeful in a mix of $10,000 and $20,000 rises until the hammer went down close to the reserve.

“The vendors bought this house in 2021 for $975,000 and they completely renovated it. The reaction when the hammer went down was amazing.

“Everyone was so excited for the young couple, knowing just how hard it is for them in the market right now,” Flanagan said.

Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said Brisbane was continuing to outperform other key capitals.

“But we haven’t seen the impact of the interest rate cut yet, it has been fairly muted because it just hasn’t been enough,” she said.

“The market is holding steady. But it is still stronger than Sydney and Melbourne.”

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